


Child of the North

by arcticviolet



Series: Runes of Tino Väinämöinen [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Birth of a Nation, Childhood, Nature, young!Finland
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:54:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21804055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcticviolet/pseuds/arcticviolet
Summary: In one cold winter night under Northern lights, long long time ago, the spirit of country now known as Finland was born in forests of his lands.The early years of Tino's life, the years he only remembers in his dreams.
Series: Runes of Tino Väinämöinen [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922575
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

The first thing he feels is coldness. A bone deep coldness that aches through your core and seems to freeze everything around you. No matter how tightly he tries to curl into himself, he can’t seem to warm himself from it. It is bitter… But yet, in a strange way the cold embrace is also comforting. It calms him.

The first thing he sees are trees. Trees with green needles that are covered in whiteness that seems to stretch endlessly to the surrounding landscape.

And the first thing he hears is… well, nothing. It seems there is only silence and tender howl of the wind in this cold, so very cold place. Surely there must be something else out there? So he stands up, unsteady, and carefully takes a step. There comes a crunchy sound of it to his delight and he takes another, and another and soon he is running in excitement. 

There’s suddenly an another sound, coming from above, a scratch against a wood and quickly he looks up to search for the cause of it. Above in the tree there is a little furry creature with pointed ears and a big, bushy tail. It observes him curiously, with caution. So he is not alone in this place! Already he feels less lonely in this world and this delightful discovery encourages him to go further into the woods to see what other creatures he might meet there. And indeed he meets plenty of them. 

There’s a white creature with big ears and long legs, hopping impossibly fast. It almost blends into the white landscape, only its movement making it visible. It is followed with equal speed by a bigger creature, orange one with big mouth. Their game of chase looks like a lot of fun, he wonders if he could join them? He tries running after them but soon realises there is no way he could keep up. Then he hears a soft, hooting sound from above. There sits a round creature with wings and small, pointy nose. Its big yellow eyes stare at him sternly for a long moment before flying away. Oh if only he too could fly! It would make this discovery business much more pleasant. But he has no wings so there is no other way than to continue walking forward.

Another creature passes him, walking briskly at him on its short legs. It has brown fur, pointy nose and small ears. It looks at him greedy and for a moment he fears what it might do to him. But as soon as it gets close enough to sniff at him, it simply turns away and goes on its way. He ought to be careful of some of these creatures… Not long after he comes across another brown creature, much bigger one on hinder legs and on its head magnific horns. This time he feels scared for real… It approaches him slowly and looks down at him. Despite its fearful appearance, its eyes are… kind. And just like the previous creature, after observing him it continues its way and pays him no further attention. It seems no creature here has any intention to hurt him. The thought comforts him greatly.

  
  


The day passes quickly and it is nearly dark already. He feels weariness catching up to him. Better start looking for a place to settle down for a rest. He comes across a pit under a tree. A perfect place for a rest! But as he comes closer, he sees that it is occupied already. Some large brown creature is soundly sleeping there. Cold wind howls past him, making him shiver. Oh how comfortable would it be to sleep next to something so soft and warm… Surely the creature won’t mind? None of the creatures he met earlier were bothered with him, surely this one won’t either. And he would only stay for a short rest... it probably will not even notice he was there. Quietly he enters the pit and settles next to the creature. It certainly is much warmer and comfortable laying next to someone than all alone! 

He looks outside from the pit to the surrounding forest. It is pitch-dark already, though the soft glow of the snow makes the scenery seem brighter. Up above behind the trees there’s a dark cover with bright spots that seem endless… And suddenly, there appears bright, moving lights in marvelous colors and his breath catches by the sight. Enchanted, he watches their dance in the sky. But tiredness is slowly taking hold on him and soon his eyes fall close. Nearly straight away he is in another world... He dreams of the things he has seen and of the creatures he met. In his dreams they are dancing in the sky in marvelous colors.

  
  
  


A low growl brings him awake from his deep sleep.

He slightly opens his eyes and is blinded by the sunlight. It seems to be much brighter than last time… Yawning, he decides that continuing his dreams is much more tempting idea than getting up and turns to his other side, facing the back of the pit. Wait, what was that growl that woke him?

Now coming wide awake, he remembers that he was not alone in this pit and faces the creature he shared his slumber with. And this one is easily the most fearsome he has faced so far. It’s brown and sturdy, it’s eyes and ears small but mouth very big… as well as its paws where he can see sharp nails that could easily rip him to pieces. He really did have to choose the most dangerous creature to sleep with!

But he must be brave. So he puts his chin up, stares at the creature defiantly and does not run though every nerve in his body seems to want that. The creature stares back, growling and gets up. Now the last pinch of bravery he had leaves him and he closes his eyes, feeling tears pouring out of them. Dread fills him as he feels it breathing on his face. It sniffs him lightly, pushes at him on its nose and then, to his surprise, licks him. He had expected something much more sharper… It continues licking him all over his face. How it tickles! He can’t help but break into giggles at that and all his nervousness is long gone.

  
  


The creature walks out of the pit and turns to look back at him, expectantly. What is it waiting for? But he understands when it softly growls at him, clearly telling him to follow. Feeling incredibly happy that he longer needs to discover this world alone, he gets up and sprints after his new companion.

As they wander through the forest he sees the world is now quite different from last time. There’s considerably less whiteness covering the landscape, some spots lacking it completely and he sees that the actual colors of the ground are brown and green. The sun shines brighter and the air feels much less cold. He must have been asleep much longer than he thought… This new time seems to have made this world much more lively. Instead of silence, he hears all kinds of different sounds all around and sees more creatures. It feels like the world has waken from a long slumber and is now bursting with new energy.

  
  


  
  
  


Days turn into nights and they turn to days again. The last banks of snow are almost entirely gone. With every passing day the world seems to become more alive as it becomes greener and its fields burst into numerous colors. He still follows the brown creature as the two have grown into inseparable pair. It seems the creature has taken him under her wing; it always makes sure to share her food with him and is fiercely protective if other creatures get too close. He now rides on her shoulders as they wander through forests and fields.

  
  
  


  
  
  


After the period what seemed to be rebirth for this world, comes a period full of green and full of warmth and it feels like sun never really sets on that time. The long days make him more adventurous - running through the forests in hope of finding something new, playing with smaller creatures, hopping on the stones of rivers… But at the end of the day he always returns back to his guardian when she calls for him, growling from the familiar forest.

  
  


  
  


And just like the seasons before this warmest one, it slowly starts to change into a different one. Days get shorter and nights colder. The greenness of it starts fading and is replaced by shades of yellow and red. It feels like the world is giving is its last shine before retiring for the long sleep. The glory of it doesn’t last long though and soon trees are shaking off their last colors.

His guardian has built a new nest now and seems more interested to stay there, sleeping for most of the day. And then one day she doesn’t wake at all, only grunts lightly when he tugs at her ear in an attempt to get her up. He as well has been sleeping longer lately but doing nothing all day every day is just too boring! So he decides to leave the nest for a day, maybe this season still has some adventures to offer? 

But the forest is quiet and uneventful. The world is cold again, in shades of grey and the lack of colors puts his cheerful spirit down. No wonder some creatures choose just to sleep through this season… Then he feels something wet on his nose. Another rain shower again? There’s been more than enough of them lately! But as he looks around he sees that this rain is white… and realises that the white season, his very first season, is starting again. He cries out in delight, his good spirit back instantly. The cold blanket falls on the grey ground as he runs through the forest in eagerness.

  
  


Most of the white season he spends resting in the nest next to his guardian, her warmth offering comfort through the long nights. Every now and then he feels too restless and wanders out of the nest into the forest. He passes his time playing with creatures, building nests in the snow, watching the dancing colors in the night sky… He loves the white season equally as much as the other ones (though he would prefer to have the grey one as short as possible…) but can’t help wishing that the ‘rebirth’ would start sooner.

  
  
  


  
  
  


And then one day, there’s the first sign of a new season as he wanders back into their nest after a day outside. His guardian is not there alone anymore, there’s two other creatures like her there, though much smaller ones. It makes him incredibly happy - he will now always have someone to play with!

  
  


It takes a while before his guardian and his new playmates actually leave the nest. They are slow and clumsy with their movements, still drowsy from their sleep. Himself he feels more energetic than ever, looking forward to see the world rise from its long rest.

  
  


Season of rebirth and the following season of the sun pass quickly with days full of play and adventures with his new ‘siblings’ while his guardian is soundly watching over them. And soon the forest is dressed up in red and yellow again.

His playmates have grown quickly. He has hardly grown at all from the moment when he first woke up to this world. After the next white season they are nearly as big as his guardian. They leave their home forest for good when the new rebirthing begins. He does not - he has grown so fond of his guardian and does not want to be alone - and she seems happy to keep him. He wonders if they can always stay together like this.

  
  
  


  
  
  


Seasons pass, his guardian brings new cubs, they grow and they go. He has learned to know the every corner and every creature in these forests. His curiosity to know what’s beyond them grows every season. He also wonders why there are many creatures here alike each other but not a single one like him… He has seen his reflection in the water, for a moment he foolishly thought it was an unfamiliar creature under there. But as he touched the surface he understood that the violet eyes looking up at him were his own. No one in the forest resembles anything like him.

  
  
  


This curiosity and restlessness made him wander further and further, eventually to the places where he had never been. And that’s where he finally met his kind.


	2. Chapter 2

He has reached the edge of the familiar forests and fields. Now standing on a hill, looking down at the strangest sight he has ever seen.

He has never any trees nor nests such as these. At the front of the strange place, there is an odd looking thicket of short trees that do not look like trees at all… they stand in line evenly, between them other trees sideways. It does not look natural at all. The thicket seems to form a space where inside there’s creatures he has never seen before. Why are they stuck there? A bit further from it stands several very peculiar nests. They are biggest ones he’s ever seen and have a very odd shape. This place just keeps getting curiouser…

But curious things always curious him more so he wants to look closer. He walks down from the hill, feeling both nervous and excited of this unfamiliar place. He pauses shortly to greet the creatures, as he always does when meeting any creature. But they don’t seem too much interested in him, only glance at him shortly and then just continue eating grass. Usually creatures get more curious when meeting him for the first time, but these ones seem as if they are used to seeing his kind… Baffled, he continues forward, reaching the place with nests.

Then he sees something really disturbing. At the front of one nest, there’s a flock of furry creatures hanging lifeless in a row. Or more like their furs. During the years he’s spent in the forest he’s seen plenty of violence: fights over regions, predators hunting down their preys, eating them… That is just the way of life there. But somehow this sight leaves him feeling more nauseous.

Already longing for the comfort of his home forest, he turns around to leave. But that is exactly when one inhabitant of a nest comes out. He freezes, staring at the tall creature with a long fur on its head. Blue eyes stare back at him, equally surprised. This creature it… is like him, standing on two feet with long arms.

After staring at each other down for what felt like much longer, the creature of his kind finally breaks the silence.

“Hei… who are you?” 

He just stares in response. The only communication he knows is growling learned from his guardian and he doubts she will understand it. When she realises she’s not going to get any answer from him, she bends down, gentle look on her fair face.

“You are not from around here… are you lost, little one?”

She offers her hand and he looks at it in wonder. She has five toes on her paws, just like him, without fur and same color of the skin. He reaches his hand forward, his much smaller hand touching her bigger, but delicate one. It feels warm.  
“Hilda, what’s going on?” He startles at the deep voice coming from inside the nest, drawing back his hand quickly as another creature like them comes out. He has more sturdy figure and shorter hair.

“This lost child just wandered into our village... “

“All alone?”

“Yes. I have no idea how he got here all by himself. The nearest neighbor village is too far for a child to wander alone…”

“Could he be child of some travelling merchants?”

“Possibly… but it’s been quite awhile since last time we had them here. And how could they be so careless as to leave such small child behind?”

“Unless he was left behind in purpose…”

“That is horrible! Are people that cruel these days?”

“Mama, papa! What’s out there?” calls now a high-pitched voice and two small figures run out. They are roughly about his size, curious eyes with glint observing him.

“Where is his family?”  
“Is he all alone?”  
“Can we keep him?”  
“Yes, he could be our little brother!”  
These smaller creatures surely chirp a lot…

“Calm down you two. Let’s not jump ahead with this yet.” the one with a deep voice says.

“Kauko, what shall we do with him?”

“We must gather the villagers and discuss this together…”

The fairer creature turns back to him, offering her hand again. “Don’t be afraid.”  
He looks up at her. Beautiful blue eyes look at him with nothing but kindness, assuring him that he can trust her.

He takes her hand.

Soon he finds himself in middle of a pack of these creatures. It seems they all had gathered to meet him and though he feels cautious, he thinks they would not harm him. Or so he hopes.

“I think someone left him here on purpose…”

“What a cruel thing to do! What kind of heartless person does that to a child!”

“A person who does not have enough to feed that child…”

“So we should be responsible to do that? There’s more than enough mouths to feed already!”

“Surely we can take care of one child!”

The communication between them seems so complicated… he wonders why they can’t get their issue solved with few grunts and be done with it.

“ _Everybody quiet! _” shouts someone who seems to be the leader of this pack. “I understand your concerns of how can we afford to take care of this orphan. But Gods have blessed us this year, offering us a good harvest that shall well feed us until next year as well! I say that the Gods have also given us this responsibility to look after this child!”__

____

Finally the pack turns quiet, looking at each other and nodding in agreement.

__

“Me and Hilda shall take him into our home as we were the ones who found him. And it seems our kids already have grown to like him”

__

“Did you hear that little one? You’re one of us now” says the fair creature that he has grown fond of. She picks him up in her arms, cradling his head into her chest. A strong feeling of content and happiness fills him.

__

__

__

“What shall we call him, mama?” shouts other one of the cubs. They are now in their nest and he can’t stop looking around in amazement. He has never seen such a carefully built nest!

__

“Well, I have always thought of naming my first son Tino…”

__

“ _TINO! _” the smallest cub screams to his face. He just tilts his head in confusion at that.__

____

__

__

“You really don’t understand us do you… Well then, I shall be your teacher!” says the other cub determinately. She comes to sit in front of him, pointing one toe of her front paw at herself. “ _Minä olen _… Tuuli” (I am...) then she turns it to point at him. “ _Sinä olet _… Tino” (You are...)*____

______ _ _

__

______ _ _

“Ti...no” he tries to imitate the sound.  
“Good! I think he likes that name, mama!”

______ _ _

__

______ _ _

______ _ _

__

______ _ _

______ _ _

__

______ _ _

Days pass quickly as he learns their communication and way of life. He has been away three nights already from the home forest. Anxiety grows in him as he thinks how worried his guardian must be. He plans to head back that night, but feels conflicted… he misses his home and his guardian deeply, but this new place fascinates him too much. The creatures in this place live so differently from the ones in the forest and he wants to know more. And the pack looking after him has already become so precious to him.

______ _ _

__

______ _ _

He comes to decision that he will return to the forest tonight. But he will not leave this place for good - he will come back next season. With that plan on his mind, he quietly sneaks out from the nest they call house. The cubs, Tuuli and Taika, are asleep already and _isä _and _äiti _occupied with their chores outside. Quietly he tiptoes behind houses, making sure no one sees him and finally reaches the edge of the village. Now that long grass gives him cover, he sprints up to the hill.____

_________ _ _ _ _ _

__

_________ _ _ _ _ _

He did not notice that Hilda caught a glimpse of his running form in the evening sun.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

__

_________ _ _ _ _ _

_________ _ _ _ _ _

__

_________ _ _ _ _ _

He has now slowed down to walking and is now near the edge of the familiar forests. The last rays of sunlight have colored the sky in shades of red, soon it will get dark. And then he hears a familiar growl calling from the forest. And there, between the trees he sees the familiar figure of his guardian, heading his way. She has come this far looking for him… She stops at the edge, growling again softly and waiting there.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

__

_________ _ _ _ _ _

And just when he’s about to sprint to his guardian, another familiar voice calls for him, from the order side. 

_________ _ _ _ _ _

__

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“ _TINO!! _”__

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Further away, he sees Hilda heading his way. His guardian looks alarmed now and quietly, but intently, growls at him, urging him to quickly come into the forest. But he stays standing in the field, feeling loss at what he should do. As Hilda’s figure heads closer his guardian starts taking steps forward, bracing herself for a fight. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

He panics and growls back at her as loud as he can, telling her to stop. His guardian looks at him in doubt, but stays behind as asked. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Hilda has stopped now as well, baffled by his growling, standing on the other side of the field. She calls for him. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Don’t go into the forest Tino! It’s dangerous out there!”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Tino stands there in the middle, looking to this guardian and then to Hilda. He understands now that he can’t live with wandering between the two places - it would just danger both of its inhabitants. He knows how fierce his guardian can get when protecting him - even when there is no danger. He thinks back to the lifeless furs he saw in the village, afraid that it will become the fate of his guardian if he returns to her now.

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

So he turns to look at his guardian, understanding that this is the last time he will ever see her. He growls softly at her. _“I’m alright. Don’t worry about me.” ___

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

The dark, familiar eyes look back at him sadly, but seem to understand that she longer needs to look after him. She grunts softly at him in response, turns around and starts walking back to where she came. Once more she turns to look at him, for a last goodbye and then her figure disappears among the trees.

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

He turns around then, feeling his eyes welling up with tears and walks forward to where Hilda is standing.

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

“Tino, you really scared me now. Promise me you’ll never do that again! And what was that growling about? It sounded like you were calling for a bear!” Hilda rambles on upsetly, but once she sees the tears in his eyes, she softens her tone. “Hey there… don’t be upset. You got little lost, but I found you, didn’t I? It is alright now”

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

She picks him up into her arms, comforting him. As they head back to the village under the darkening sky, he cries all the way.

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

Centuries later, when Tino dreams of the forests he was born into and of its creatures, he no longer remembers those first decades of his life. Just like for any nation, centuries of memories have vanished the early years of his life from his mind. 

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

He thinks of the bear that comes to him in those dreams as nothing more than a dream.

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a prequel to a much longer one I've been working on for awhile now. It's a historical one, as you can guess, with focus on Finland. I'm pretty excited about it. I do hope I can keep my motivation up with it though... as I'm planning to cover only about thousand years of the country's history, it's not gonna be a challenging at all, huh?
> 
> That story will be in 3 parts, first one almost finished already so at least that one will pop up here (chapter by chapter) early next year and spring.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you thought of this one and if you are interested to see more of my writing :)


End file.
